Sports College Status

What does being a Specialist Sports College actually mean!?

In some ways, it is easier to begin by trying to explain what it is not! Sports College status is certainly not about fielding more teams or winning more cups than other schools in the area – although that all helps!

It is about our whole school achievement and opportunities culture and, most importantly, the Values that we stand for and aim to promote across and beyond the student community – the Olympic and Paralympic Values of:

These values and our Sports Specialism have taken on even greater relevance as a result of the inspirational impact of London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and, having received the Aviva Daily Telegraph Sports College of the Year Award in 2011 for our work in the lead up to the Games, click here to view press coverage, we are now already leading local and national planning for their educational Legacy. It is perhaps, therefore, no surprise that we were the first school in the county to receive the coveted 'Inspired by 2012' mark from the Cabinet Office.

In these ways, Sports College status adds extra value to student learning and achievement right across and beyond the curriculum, with particular emphasis on:

International learning: with Olympic-themed partnerships directly linking us to schools in South Africa, Mongolia and Japan - the latter reflecting the work we are already undertaking to support the development of the education programme for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

Student leadership: with our four teams of 2012 Games Makers (Click here to see the BBC film) reflecting amazing opportunities to take on new roles and responsibilities

Community provision: which involves co-ordinating inter-school competition and raising participation across the local area through links with local clubs.

Olympic and Paralympic-themed artwork

A gallery of our students’ fantastic Olympic and Paralympic-themed artwork, displayed both locally and now at the Stoke Mandeville Museum and a brilliant example of curriculum enrichment.